June 22

“In order to love people, I must avoid their company.”

--The German landscapist Caspar David Friedrich; cited in Times Literary Supplement (June 11, 2010), p. 31; image: painting by Friedrich, The Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog

“As managing editor of The Pointer, the West Point literary magazine, McChrystal wrote seven short stories. ... In ‘Brinkman's Note,’ a piece of suspense fiction, the unnamed narrator appears to be trying to stop a plot to assassinate the president. It turns out, however, that the narrator himself is the assassin, and he's able to infiltrate the White House.”

--Michael Hastings, "The Runaway General: Stanley McChrystal, Obama's top commander in Afghanistan, has seized control of the war by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House," Rolling Stone

PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Forum: US relations with Pakistan difficult to manage - Kul B. Rai, New Haven Register:

"The United States gives over a billion dollars annually in aid to Pakistan, whose officials and the public believe the aid is aimed at furthering American, not Pakistani, interests. The United States is trying to correct that with planned programs to invest in Pakistan’s schools, hospitals and power projects and by public diplomacy endeavors such as exchange programs and visits by American officials to speak to the Pakistani public. Experience shows that such efforts take years, possibly decades, before they produce desirable results." Image from

America's Oil-Spill Nationalism - Chris Patten, Project Syndicate: "Before attacking the allegedly foreign BP, American politicians might also pause for a moment to reflect on the intimate links between politics and the oil industry in the United States. This is surely one of the biggest reasons for the lax regulation of deep-sea oil drilling. None of this excuses BP’s engineering mistakes and woeful public diplomacy. Nor would I seek to downplay the full horror of what has happened. But it does remind us that, while the US is in many respects the most globalized society in the world, it can also be surprisingly insular and nationalistic. Americans’ knowledge of what happens abroad is limited, and often reduced to a cartoon-strip view of the rest of the world. Americans identify BP as a British firm, and they know that Britain is in Europe. They also seem to think that Europe has gone down the tubes. ... European exceptionalism – the idea that we are the best at delivering values and prosperity – is as much a problem as the American kind. We won’t thrive and prosper in the future by resting on past achievements."

Roosevelt Diplomacy - USNI Blog: "From the standpoint of public diplomacy the Obama administration is enjoying the century old practice of speaking softly and carrying a big stick. When a single US aircraft carrier

and 6-8 escorts transit the Suez Canal in broad daylight for Egyptian soldiers to witness – Roosevelt diplomacy is leveraged. It is the story of politics going back to before Athens and Sparta that a fleet of warships could get the attention of other states – and at the same time send a message that was both clear and ambiguous." Image from article

Strike-Out - Laura McGinnis, manIC: "[A]s American citizens abroad, we are representatives of the nation, and that means we represent its policies--even the ones we don't approve of. ... [F]oreign policy is an incredibly influential part of public diplomacy."

The Strong Horse [review of Lee Smith, The Strong Horse; Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations, Doubleday: New York, 2010, ISBN 978-0-385-51611-2, 239 pp., $26.00]- Norvell DeAtkine, American Diplomacy: "Smith views U. S. public diplomacy initiatives in the name of soft power as a 'waste of money.'

The reviewer would put it another way. The problem is not the idea of influencing the Arab world, which we very much need to do, but rather the feeble ways we attempt to do so. Showing happy Muslim Americans and extolling the joys of democracy has little resonance in the Arab world. In tune with the strong horse concept, we should be portraying our military, economic, and people power." Image from article

Bamyan University hosts media training - Troop Scoop: Positive daily updates about our heroic troops and their successes in Iraq and Afghanistan: "A group of professional journalists attend a media workshop at the U.S. Lincoln Center at Bamyan University, June 4, to learn about the media roundtables and social media. Mahtab Farid, a public diplomacy officer with the U.S. State Dept, taught the class

using a number of mock roundtables with special guests, including the Gov. of Bamyan’s spokesperson, and directors of media orgs. During the 2nd session of the class, reporters learned how to use their blog to post their stories, and worked on enhancing the overall design of the weblogs." Image from article

With social media, State embraces disruption - William Jackson, GCN.com: "Jared Cohen, who sits on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s policy planning staff, calls himself a technopragmatist. Technology is neither good nor bad, he said. 'The technologies themselves don’t choose sides; people do.' We can fear them or embrace them, but like it or not, 'the tools themselves are out there in the public domain,' he added.

The State Department has decided to embrace the new tools. 'We are venturing into a foreign policy that takes advantage of the technology' while recognizing the risk, he said. Cohen focuses on counterterrorism, counterradicalization, technology and innovation, the Middle East, youth issues and public diplomacy at State. He also is chairman of the Policy Planning Staff Working Group on 21st-century statecraft. At a recent Ogilvy Exchange talk in Washington, he said the department’s moves into 21st-century communications are still in the start-up phase." Cohen image from

Winners of Second Democracy Video Challenge - Stephen Kaufman, Scoop.co.nz (press release) - "First launched in September 2008, the Democracy Video Challenge has encouraged more than 1,600 people from 111 countries to submit video entries, and the process has spurred the online engagement of at least 2.5 million people. The contest is made possible through a unique public-private partnership among democracy and youth organizations, the film and entertainment industry, academia and the U.S. government. The goal is to spark global conversations about democracy, using social networks such as YouTube and Facebook to showcase the diverse video submissions and to encourage debate. ... 'President Obama and Secretary Clinton have both underscored the importance of listening to what others think, and the Democracy Video Challenge provides us a platform to do just that,' Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale said ( http://www.america.gov/st/texttrans-english/2009/September/20090915154857bpuh0.7206842.html ) in a September 2009 State Department press notice."

A Student Orchestra Where the Students Are Also the Teachers - Voice of America: ‎ "BARBARA KLEIN: Art and culture can bring people together. So they can often be effective instruments of public diplomacy. For the United States, one of the most successful public diplomacy efforts of the late twentieth century was the Jazz Ambassadors programs. An exhibit launched in Washington looks back at this exercise in musical diplomacy. ... STEVE EMBER: 'Jazz ambassadors' like Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington

and Dave Brubeck traveled the world. These musicians visited more than thirty-five countries from the nineteen fifties to the seventies. They traveled in the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Their music influenced the image of the United States and helped ease Cold War tensions. Curtis Sandberg at the Meridian International Center in Washington is curator of the exhibit called 'Jam Session.' CURTIS SANDBERG: No one traveled back then, if you think about normal people. Who in nineteen fifty-six would get on an airplane and go to Burma? It was just unheard of. Or Thailand? Those were romantic locales for most people. And so the jazz ambassadors were really quite famous and were really hailed as America's diplomats musically. And the legacy that they left is still valid." Image from

The Strange Disappearance of Jan Christian Smuts and What it Can Teach Americans – Gregory Garland, American Diplomacy: “[Senator J. William] Fulbright has become a hallowed name in the twenty-first century, or to use that currently fashionable term borrowed from advertising, a brand. The flagship program of American cultural diplomacy, Fulbright claims 300,000 alumni around the world. ... A curious thing happened on the way to Fulbright’s secular canonization: His constituency of intellectuals and government officials mislaid the senator’s record on white supremacy. The regular anniversaries of this and that over the course of Fulbright history have drawn useful attention to the program and inspired supporters, but have remained conspicuously silent on flaws of the founding father from Dixie. Such activities border on what the senator feared most for his cultural legacy: propaganda.”

A Review of The Strength of the Pack - Adam Engel, Dissident Voice: "The buzz words, 'national security,' allow the CIA and other sub-systems to get away with murder, literally. There is a famous photo of Donald Rumsfeld smiling broadly and pumping Saddam Hussein’s hand on December 20, 1983, knowing full well 'the brutal dictator' was pouring chemical weapons on the Kurds. At almost the same moment, Bush was meeting with another brutal dictator, Manuel Noriega, to seal an equally devious deal. … [Colonel Oliver] North was so pleased with Noriega’s assistance that he suggested that the CIA’s Office of Public Diplomacy ‘help clean up his image’ and lift the ban on arms sales to the Panamanian Defense Force. He did this knowing that Noriega was cutting side deals with the Colombian cartels. (p 393-394, [The Strength of the Pack: The Personalities, Politics and Espionage Intrigues That Shaped the DEA By Douglas Valentine Publisher: Trine Day (September 1, 2009)]"

NATO Deputy Secretary General visits Mauritania - ISRIA: "The Deputy Secretary General of NATO, H.E. Amb. Claudio Bisogniero, will pay an official visit to Mauritania on 21 June 2010. ... He will ... open a seminar on 'The Cooperation between Mauritania and NATO in the Framework of the Mediterranean Dialogue', together with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mauritania,

H.E. Mrs. Naha Mint Mouknass. This seminar, which is co-organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mauritania and NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, will bring together in Nouakchott opinon leaders, officials and the media from Mauritania." Image from

Importance of foreign policy - Daily News, Sri Lanka: "Sri Lanka has finished one strategic phase of its development. The end of the fratricidal war with the Tigers has placed economic development at the centre of the stage. The foreign policy should serve this objective. ... Today, foreign policy is not the sole prerogative of career diplomats. There is a much larger arm of the external relations, viz., public diplomacy. No country could develop its external relations without developing public diplomacy. It is hoped that the new External Affairs Minister would pursue a vigorous public diplomacy, especially in relation to the security threat posed by attempts to resurrect the international wing of the deceased Tigers."

Experts to discuss 'hasbara' at TA conference - Ben Hartman, Jerusalem Post (June 18): "The Israel Security Council – a private initiative that brings together 28 experts, including academics and former military officials – will hold a conference on Sunday in Tel Aviv to address the problems faced by the country’s often lackluster hasbara

(public diplomacy) efforts. ... During the conference, members of the council will sign a declaration of principles for the organization, which will take into account the hasbara difficulties facing the State of Israel today." Image from

Broadcasting From Saigon: Vietnam Loves Cuba - Ren Micro Diplomacy: "I don’t know what it looks like over in Cuba, but the Vietnamese people seem to have a love affair with certain aspects of Cuban culture…or maybe it’s more accurate to say, certain interpretations of Cuban culture. Here are a few examples: just went to my second salsa lesson. Salsa is huge here, but the majority of people dance L.A. style. The lessons were held in a restaurant called 'La Habana,' which serves Spanish tapas. The American Chamber of Commerce in HCMC held a 'Cuban night' which featured a salsa band and cigar roller. One particular aspect of Cuban culture that hasn’t caught on- Spanish language instruction. With Cuba being cool here, I wanted to see what Vietnam is doing to return the favor- did a quick search, but found a couple public diplomacy programs: Havana just wrapped up Vietnam week and there’s a Cuba-Vietnam Friendship Association."

Boston Snapshot: Public Diplomacy Collaborative, Harvard Kennedy School - alia, bostonworldpartnerships.com: "1. Tell us about your new project. What are your objectives and who is your target market? [Jed Willard, a BWP Connector and the Director of the Public Diplomacy Collaborative at Harvard Kennedy School:] Public diplomacy requires the effective communication of shared values.

It demands a long-term vision. When done effectively, public diplomacy can pave a promising road toward fostering respectful and enriching international discourse. Seventeen Harvard professors, including Matt Baum, Nick Burns, and Joe Nye, have launched the Public Diplomacy Collaborative. It supports effective public diplomacy by encouraging and enabling thought and opinion leaders across sectors and disciplines to engage with counterparts across national boundaries. We are a lab for enhancing public diplomacy effectiveness, engaging in purposeful global discussion, and promoting new networks and new thinking on regional and global issues." Willard image from article

Business meetings - Anchorage Daily News: "The Alaska World Affairs Council presents the ambassador from Finland, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Hilton Anchorage, 500 W. Third Ave. Ambassador Pekka Lintu will speak on 'Green Public Diplomacy: Sustainability as Finland’s Message in the U.S."

Fidesz sweep means moment of truth for American policymakers - Frank Koszorus, Jr, Politics.hu: "[Editor's Note: The following is an op-ed piece by Frank Koszorus, Jr., a Washington, D.C. Attorney who currently serves as President of the American Hungarian Federation, was previously chair of the steering committee of the NATO Enlargement Working Group, and is a regular commentator and university lecturer on foreign policy, public diplomacy, human rights and minority rights issues.]"

Press and Public Affairs Officer - Bahrain - puthisali.blogspot.com: A position is available at the British Embassy for a Press and Public Affairs officer. ... The role will cover: ... Preparing press releases and public diplomacy information for publication in local media and Embassy website.

RELATED ITEMS

President Obama's enigmatic intellectualism - Richard Cohen, Washington Post: It can seem that at the heart of Barack Obama's foreign policy is no heart at all. It consists instead of a series of challenges -- of problems that need fixing, not wrongs that need to be righted.

Spending hundreds of billions of dollars on the fifth-poorest country on earth has failed to win over the civilian population, whose attitude toward U.S. troops ranges from intensely wary to openly hostile. Image from

Israeli Gaza move called 'propaganda' - Canwest News Service And Reuters: Israeli officials said Sunday they are easing a land blockade on the Gaza Strip to allow in everything except weapons. The softening of a policy criticized as collective punishment of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians to weaken their hard line Islamist leaders follows an Israeli raid on a flotilla in which nine activists died. But Canadian activist Rifat Audeh, who was aboard the flotilla when it was raided on May 31, said he doubts Israel has done anything to help people in the Palestinian territory. He dismissed the announcement as "Israeli propaganda."

China launches propaganda campaign in Urumqi - 3News: China says it has launched a patriotic education campaign in the restive far western region of Xinjiang amid moves to strengthen security ahead of the anniversary of bloody ethnic riots.

A statement on the Xinjiang government's website Tuesday said the region's Party Secretary Zhang Chunxian rolled out the "Love the great motherland, build a beautiful homeland" campaign at a meeting with local officials on Monday. Image from

Contest dedicated to study and propaganda of Azerbaijani National Leader's heritage to be held in Azerbaijan - T. Hajiyev, Trend: The Azerbaijani Ministry of Youth and Sport jointly with the organization of integration of Azerbaijani young people in Europe will hold an art contest "Fenomen" to study and promote the heritage of National Leader Heydar Aliyev among creative young people living in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Youth and Sport said. Together with the nations and national communities the organization wants to contribute to the ongoing public policy related to youth, the information said. This contest is conducted specifically for this purpose.

Vatican cardinal denies allegations of corruption – euronews: A senior cardinal caught up in a corruption probe connected to his work for the Vatican has denied any wrong doing. Crescenzio Sepe, who is also the archbishop of Naples, is accused of taking kickbacks when he headed the Propaganda Fide – that’s the body which handles the Vatican’s vast property porfolio which funds much of the Catholic Church’s missionary work.

Sepe says he will cooperate fully with the investigation which has pulled in former government ministers. It's alleged Sepe sold a building at a quarter of its market value to a one time infrastructure minister. Sepe asserts that during his time as head of the department until 2006, the Vatican always approved all the balance sheets and he was even congratulated on his management skills. The Vatican has said its confident the cardinal will be found blameless in this matter. Sepe image from